NXT Results and Recap: Takeover Fallout Shows Off New Champs

Aug 22 2018 LaToya Ferguson

Pete Dunne (source: WWE) — NXT – August 22, 2018

It’s the fallout of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV.

Bianca Belair def. Deonna Purrazzo

Despite technically making her debut on NXT back in the fall of 2015—in a losing effort against Nia Jax—this match is Deonna Purrazzo’s official debut as a signed NXT Superstar. As for Bianca Belair, this is her official return match from her honeymoon, which kept her from participating in a Fatal Four-way (which then became a Triple Threat) for the #1 contendership to the NXT Women’s Championship.

Both women try to prove out-athletic each other during this match, but it’s not all fun and games: Eventually, Belair’s need to be the “EST” of NXT turns a competitive back-and-forth into something more vicious, as she finds Purrazzo’s audacity to keep up with her disrespectful. In fact, the Brooklyn crowd is properly behind both women until Belair starts mocking her opponent. Fortunately for Belair, she didn’t need the support of the crowd to eventually take Purrazzo down for the three count and continue her current undefeated streak.

Post-NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV win against EC3, The Velveteen Dream spoke with Cathy Kelley—now and forever known as “Queen Cathy”—promising to reveal what his next plans are for NXT… as long as folks tune in on Wednesday nights at 8 PM.

EC3, on the other hand, had to speak to Mike Rome after being on the losing end of that match. The “top 1% mindset” actually sounds a lot like the “EST” mentality, so maybe EC3 could get some “victory after victory after victory” tips from Bianca Belair. But the one key thing to this mentality is that, until he has wins over the NXT Superstars he’s lost to so far—like Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, The Velveteen Dream, and every other opponent he faced at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans for the NXT North American Championship—his matches against those men are not over. It is not over until EC3 wins.

Also, EC3 is a bit of a detective, but that has nothing to do with his win-loss percentage.

Right after winning the NXT North American Championship from Adam Cole, Ricochet should’ve been able to relax. Of course, habitual line steppers The Undisputed Era—in the form of Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong, who retained their championship gold, unlike their leader—came to harass “The One and Only.” Luckily, “The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne came to Ricochet’s rescue, but he’s still no knight in shining armor, and he’s definitely not Ricochet’s “mate”: He just wants a shot at the North American Championship. That match will have to wait though, because next week on NXT, it’s TUE versus Ricochet and Pete Dunne in a tag team match.

More information on the attack of @WWEAleister: It is believed that the figure shown in this new footage is none other than @NikkiCrossWWE.

Still… the culprit remains a mystery. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/gUhQCt5Ndr
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 23, 2018

EC3’s aforementioned detective skills led him to infer that Lars Sullivan was the person responsible for Aleister Black’s mystery attack days before NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, but this new—and enhanced—footage possibly shows Nikki Cross on a rooftop, lurking. This doesn’t look like an admission of guilt though.

Kairi Sane, Shayna Baszler (source: WWE.com)

You can read and see more about the aftermath of Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane III, for the NXT Women’s Championship, here.

Pete Dunne (c) def. Zack Gibson, for the United Kingdom Championship

This is a United Kingdom Championship Tournament rematch, and honestly, it easily could have been another match on TakeOver. As the Brooklyn crowd chants “BRUISERWEIGHT” throughout the match for Pete Dunne, one thing is for sure: Literally no place in the world likes Zack Gibson. The same is probably doubly true for Liverpool, despite the fact he calls himself “Liverpool’s #1.”

This right here is a good old-fashioned technical wrestling match… until the self-proclaimed “Liverpool’s #1” decides he’s not a fan of “The Bruiserweight” escaping his Shankly Gates submission finisher. (If only Gibson could hear Nigel McGuinness’ commentary though. Because if he could, he’d know he wasn’t sitting down into Shankly Gates finisher enough; and McGuinness would know, because he used to do the move back when he was an in-ring performer.)

And it’s not like Dunne gets out of the Shankly Gates in an aesthetically-pleasing way either, as he literally has to bite the bottom rope to break the hold—leading Gibson to stomp on Dunne’s head. That would probably spell the end of Dunne’s over-450 day reign, but instead of following up, Gibson chooses to take Dunne’s fallen gum shield and attempt to toss it into the Brooklyn crowd. So Dunne—ever the level-headed wrestler—simply chooses to snap Gibson’s fingers and put him down with The Bitter End.

You can watch this week’s NXT on the WWE Network.